Tuesday, August 24, 2010

the sacred 45

Gibson woke me up to go outside sometime around 4AM. My alarm goes off 45 minutes later, but those are a sacred 45 minutes. Sleep is something I want more of but my body seems to disagree. Without fail I get up every morning around 4:47 AM.

I like my early mornings. I wake up to the pre-dawn light (now almost dark again as fall creeps in) and see the world before most. I take time to listen to the farm wake up from my bed. I cab hear the young roosters moan and the shuffle of Maude as she shakes out her wool and starts rooting for apples that fell while she slept. I know every sound and where it comes from.

Gibson usually sleeps right till I get up but today I was ready to go outside early. So I wrapped myself up in a blanket and took him outside to pee. We came back inside and he ran fast as his little legs could carry him back to my bed. He was curled up and eyes closed in moments. I sighed. Some battles are not worth fighting. I found a place for myself and he sidled closer to me. He placed his head in the crook of my arm and scootched his spine back into my belly. He was snuggling and then fell alseep. A puppy out cold. I whispered to him the same question I ask all my dogs, "Are you getting all the love you need?" and set a hand on the side of his dear head. He turned onto his back, stretched out his long paws and then collapsed back into a heap with a sigh, like he gave up on the effort of the stretch. I took that as a yes.

19 Comments:

I so, SO wish I had this kind of loyal "I want to make you happy all the time" relationship with my dog... He's too busy being offended at the puppy's existence to bother with human interaction. Unless there's food involved. Sigh.

Awww. Love that! I have noticed as it's been cooler, that Sash has been cuddling next to me most every night. In summer she usually sleeps in the crate - her little space - but sometimes in the middle of the night I wake up and there she is just like Gibson was with you - stretched out along side of me - oh what a feeling.

Let me tell you a little story. I had a dog that had to get up from his crate every night to pee about 3 am & then he would come cuddle in bed w/ us because it was too much trouble to get him back in his crate & we would be up in 2 hrs anyway. Fast forward a couple of years. One night we let him start out in bed w/ us instead of the crate. He never got up to pee. So 5 years later the dog sleeps under the covers all through the night. My dog is a Chihuahua and I got played. So be careful he really is being angelic & this isn't just the start of a master plan involving you sleeping in the crate!

The crate is a great place for a puppy to be when you can't be watching him. Saves walls and other things, but if you like him sleeping next to you go for it. Mine all have beds in my room because a queen bed just isn't big enough for one human and three GSDs. If I had only one, it would be on my bed. I don't believe it lessens your stature as head of the pack in any way unless you let the rest of the training slip. The only thing to be mindful of is he gets on the bed at your invitation and off when you say so.

We have two dogs, a mutt (was advertised as a husky..grrr), and one full-blooded red siberian husky. Chevy (the mutt) is still in the 'teenager' phase, and is a bit annoying at the time being. Our beautiful husky, Izzy is the most perfect dog we've ever had. She's 6 years old, we've had her for 2 years. The other night I took her with me to go get my oldest son from football practice. She sat with me on the sidelines, sniffing everything in site, tail curled up over her back, gracefully obliging when people would walk by, exclaim how beautiful she is, and ask if they could pat her. (I think she knows how beautiful she is, but she's very humble). We watched the kids for the last half hour of practice. When the practice was over, she was laying beside me on the ground. I said to her "Let's go find Caden". She jumped up and started sniffing the feet and legs of every pre-teen boy around. When she knew she had finally found her beloved Caden, she jumped up and kissed his face. He giggled and was just as thrilled as she was that she had found him. It was a nice moment. *sigh*

Oh I had EXACTLY the same early morning today Jenna! And just last night I was thinking perhaps this pup Little Bear needed a`crate for when he has to be left alone. I was bemoaning how he broke into the dining room and helped himself to the taco condiments while I was out hanging a load of laundry. All was forgiven as we (my little boy Wild Thing and I) snuggled up to him and waited for dawn.

I hear ya Jenna! I could replace Gibson with Lee and your story would be the same as mine, although Lee lets me sleep in till at least 6am. One minute after though and I get a big wet dog lick in my face.

I couldn't imagine crate training Lee at this point - he's 2 years old physically but still a puppy in his mind. He was raised outdoors but has made the transition to inside dog very nicely. There is the occasional accident inside butthat's to be expected and if anything it's the result of not taking him out often enough. If I had started with a pup I might have considered crate training but not now in his life. 19/20 times he's a great boy, and the 1/20 only points out how leaving shoes and rolls of toilet paper is not possible anymore with having a dog! Plus walking him a few times a day is helping to melt off my extra pounds. A win win for us all :)

Awwww :) I thought my GSD was the only butter fiend out there! The first thing she does when we leave the house is knock the butter dish of the counter onto the floor and have a snack. I keep forgeting to put in the cupboard. I would let her sleep in the bed if their were not two people in a full size already! The day we get a king the dogs get their own pillows :)